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24 April 2009

clair-ity part 1

Clairvoyant is a pretty well-know term. It means psychic, or someone who sees the future, right?

Nope.

Not entirely. The real root of words like “clairvoyant”, “clairaudient”, “clairsentince” means clear - clarity of sight, sound or feeling.

Once again, predicting the future is NOT a part of the picture. Functionally, these terms refer to intuition, and how we interpret that non-linear, symbolic information that we call “psychic” or “intuitive”. It doesn’t matter whether you believe psychic information is spiritual in source, or just a higher function of the right brain hemisphere, seeing any situation a little more clearly may seem “psychic”.

Being able to listen to subtle clues from our environment and from within ourselves is the root of clairvoyance.

Clairvoyance is technically clarity of vision - like the word voyeur. Many times when working with intuitive information it comes to mind in the form of mental images. These mental images are much the same as memory, imagination, or daydreams. It doesn’t mean that the psychic is hallucinating or literally seeing things that aren’t there. Quirks of language may make it seems that way…but it isn’t what is really going on at all. If we say we “see” something, it really means that we are tuning in to subtle visual/ mental images. Yeah…it is all in our head. But like J.K. Rowling said in the “Deathly Hallows”…”Just because it is in your head, Harry, doesn’t mean it isn’t real” The images may not be “real” but the guidance and inspiration they give is quite real.

The same is true for Clairaudience. The “audio” here is sound, usually spoken words. Once again, this isn’t a sound outside the head that is a mis-perception of the environment or a hallucination that mimics a sound that really isn’t there. It has the same dream-like, imagination-like quality as clairvoyance, but in sound form. Most often this is spoken words, and is what people who “channel” often report. They just repeat or write down the verbal information that they sense.

Again, language makes it seem as if there is a physical component that just isn’t there. We may say we “hear” a spirit, or “hear” a phrase, but it isn’t a literal sound. Sometimes, the information will come as a literal sound…a bit of music that is somehow significant, or the sound of waves for someone who loves the beach, or the sound of birdsong for someone who loves to camp…that sort of thing.

Other senses can come into play when doing intuitive work. These are less common, but are worth thinking about. This can include smells…which is a very potent way to trigger specific memories. For example pine, cinnamon and oranges are strongly associated with Yule holidays while flowers might evoke springtime memories. Either of those may help bring about a specific insight when doing or receiving a Tarot or other psychic reading.

The same is true of physical sensation. Feeling hot or cold, or feeling a heaviness in a particular body area might be significant.

Taste seems to be the rarest intuitive sensation of all, at least in my experience. For the most part, we are visual creatures, so mental images are very common intuitive messages. Words follow a close second, which makes logical sense, given how important language and speech is to our daily lives. So if any of the other senses come into play during a reading, they are likely very significant are are worth our attention.

Our senses are a part of our human experience, so they are naturally a part of our natural intuition as well.

Try now…what sensations are you most aware of now…temperature, smells, body sensations, images from old memories, a word or phrase….if you let your mind wander, what is the first thing it wanders to? What is the first thing to capture your attention?